The Tree House - A Hollowverse One-Shot
by gqsweden
Summary: Summer days are long and warm, sticky and muggy. This particular summer is particularly warm and sticky, and with boredom becoming overwhelming, fourteen year old Mathias and his twelve year old brother Berwald decide the best way to beat that is to build a tree house in their backyard. Based on Hollow, by gqdenmark and myself.


Summer days were long, and too hot for anything more than a pair of shorts. This summer was particularly warm, and because he was an idiot and enjoyed the sun far more than his stupidly delicate, pale skin could take, Mathias Køhler ended up with nasty burns on his torso and his face. He couldn't bring himself to care, though. Especially not with the half constructed tree fort in the back yard, that himself and the oldest of his younger brothers were putting together.

This tree fort wasn't going to be very big, or particularly pretty. They never expected it to be pretty, and their expectations for the thing, made out of different kinds of wood, hammered together with a plethora of different types of nails from the market, were limited to 'sturdy'.

Now, there was not a steady supply of lumber coming into the town, so they had to make do with what they had. It had been Berwald's brilliant idea to take apart Emil's old crib and use that to build the fort... though they quickly realized that that was not going to be enough wood to build the for. To solve this problem, Mathias came up with the ingenious idea to take the dining set, which was only used in the event that their father was actually home, and use that. Weeks later, when their father finally came home from wherever he had gone, yelled at the two of them, and smacked them both upside the head, it was unanimously agreed that using the dining set for the tree house was the best idea they had come up with.

Now, the first thing they had to do in order to get the tree house started, was dismantle the chairs and the table and the crib. This in itself was a chore, as they didn't have the proper tools, and took the two of them a day and a half. It would have taken much longer had Tino and Lukas not decided to lend a hand, while Emil sat cross legged in the dry grass a few feet away and tugged fruitlessly at a few pieces of wood from the legs of one of the chairs.

Shortly before they finished, and shortly after Lukas had taken Tino with him to the market for groceries, Emil wandered into the backyard, gnawing absently on his hand and dragging one of his old, beaten up stuffed animals on the ground behind him. The little boy proceeded to climb into Mathias's lap, and wedge himself in between his eldest brother and what he was taking apart, successfully forcing the fourteen year old the cease what he was doing and pay attention to him.

"Ya know, I can't get this apart when you're sittin' there, kiddo," the elder laughed, mussing up his little brother's hair shock of pale blond hair. Emil tilted his head back, looking up at Mathias with wide, violet eyes. He didn't say anything for a long moment, staring up at his big brother with his hand still in his mouth as if to say 'do you really think I care?' In response, Mathias just laughed at him and his expression, affectionately nuzzling the top of Emil's head, much to the younger's distaste.

* * *

Once they had all their materials laid out before them, it became a matter of 'how to we get all of this up in the tree and how to we get it to stay there?' Lukas had initially suggested magic, though Mathias immediately shot him down by laughing in his face (an action that earned him a slap from the eleven year old). Berwald, in all his twelve year old building wisdom, suggested they take a handful of coins from the jar on the kitchen counter, and see what they could find at the market.

One trip to the market later, the two of them had 400 odd nails of varying sizes and shapes, some bent oddly but still decidedly usable, in a cracked bucket made of green plastic. They each had a brand new hammer as well, and once home, how to get everything up into the tree was worked out.

Berwald, being the expert builder that he was, climbed up into the tree and shouted back down at Mathias to find a rope. When questioned as to his intentions with the rope by his older brother, Berwald stared at him, and stated rather bluntly that 'it's to get the wood into the tree, idiot.' Understanding now, but mildly irritate, Mathias wandered off into the house, coming back with an old, fraying coil of rope that he dug out of the cellar. The rope was thrown up into the tree, and secured to a sturdy branch before the first piece was tied to the bottom and hoisted up by the younger brother.

* * *

Over the course of the next two days, the managed to build themselves a tree house. It was sturdy enough to support Mathias jumping on it, and big enough to hold all five of the brothers. The younger two, five year old Emil, and seven year old Tino who had moved in with the four of them last may, hooted and hollered, clapping enthusiastically over the completion of their new fort, and with the help of their big brothers, were hoisted up to the top. Lukas climbed up next, bluntly refusing help from Mathias while he struggled for a few minutes to climb the rope. Berwald climbed up afterwards, and Mathias, overly proud of himself and his brother's handiwork, stayed down on the ground and grinned up at them for a few minutes, chatting back and forth with anyone who decided to shout down at him.

Eventually, after wandering in to get something for himself and his brothers to eat after Emil and Tino, and eventually Lukas started to complain about being hungry, he hoisted himself up into the tree house after handing the food to Berwald. Emil promptly situated himself in his oldest brother's lap, snuggling up and ordering Mathias to grab him food. The elder didn't put up much of a fight, just laughing quietly at him and grabbing the boy what he wanted.

The rest of the afternoon, which drifted easily into the evening, and then into night, found the five of them still in their now tree house. Tino had fallen asleep, curled up next to Berwald with his head resting gently on his brother's thigh. Emil had also fallen asleep, curled up safely in Mathias's lap. Berwald was wide awake, his eyes turned up to the sky, staring at the stars through the branches and the tree's green leaves. Lukas sat in between Berwald and Mathias, the eleven year old starting to doze, with his head resting gently on his oldest brother's shoulder, one hand lightly gently clasped in Tino's tiny fingers, the other curled gently in one of Emil's. Mathias was awake as well, his eyes turned up to the stars, listening patiently to Berwald quietly going on about all of the constellations that he knew.

"...And that one's Ursa Major," Berwald stated quietly, pointing to a cluster of stars that his older brother couldn't quite make out.

"...Ursa Major, huh? I think I've heard of that one… That's like… Big Bear, or something, right?" Mathias questioned, looking up in the general direction of where Berwald had pointed. The younger nodded, humming tunelessly before speaking up.

"I read somewhere that a long time ago, people far away used to call it the Big Dipper… Or The Plough. That makes a little more sense than Ursa Major… It doesn't really look like a bear," he replied thoughtfully, before glancing down at Tino, and back up at the sky. "Tino said he thought it looked like a net with a pole attached…"

Mathias eyed him skeptically. "That sounds a little weird, but whatever. Tino can think it's what he wants, I guess. To be honest, I have no idea how anyone sees any shapes in stars. I just see a big clump of stars."

Berwald chuckled at him quietly. "...I think that's because you don't look for patterns… There's a lot, but you don't look to see them…" Mathias rolled his eyes at that, and turned his attention back to the sky above their heads.

"Yeah, well. If I spent all my time looking for patterns in the stupid stars, I'd never have any time to look after you guys! And that's my job!" he laughed, speaking a little too loud which earned him a weak slap and annoyed grumble from Lukas. "...I'm the big brother after all, it's my job to look after you guys," he added, speaking quietly now.

"...You do a good job, sometimes," Berwald replied, smiling a little and shifting a bit so he could get a little more comfortable. He yawned, and rubbed lightly at his eyes. "Sometimes you're just mean. So mean, I think Mom would hit you with a spoon if she knew."

Mathias laughed quietly, nodding in agreement. "She probably would… You gonna sleep now, Ber?" The younger nodded gently in reply, and Mathias smiled a little. "Awesome. I should probably sleep soon too… Night."

"Night," was Berwald's gruff reply, leaning his head back against the tree lightly and closing his eyes. He was asleep shortly, as was Lukas, who'd been struggling to actually fall asleep with their chatting.

Mathias spent the next little while trying to pick out patterns in the sky, to prove to Berwald that he could find them, if he wanted to… the task proved to be difficult however, and after a while of just staring at the distant, twinkling stars, he gave up, leaned his head lightly on Lukas's, and closed his eyes.

That night was a peaceful one, the howling from the beasts beyond the wall distant and unconcerning. Their dreams were sweet, and the stars smiled down on them and their little makeshift tree house in the backyard of their home in the walled city.

For now, all was well.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading! Please go read Hollow, by gqDenmark (and me, I cowrote it with him) if you haven't already. I'll be sure you write more like this if you all enjoy it. :)_


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